The present invention relates generally to the field of communication, navigation, and user control in a motor vehicle. The invention relates more specifically to systems and methods for providing route information to a vehicle system.
Vehicles typically include a number of electronics systems and subsystems such as an audio system, a mobile telephone system, a navigation system, an in-vehicle entertainment system, an engine management system that may be controlled by a user interface, an HVAC system, etc. One or more of these systems may include or be provided by an in-vehicle control system that may be setup in the vehicle. The control system may include a control interface and accompanying controls and may be configured to be coupled or integrated with other vehicle electronic systems, such as a display system or an audio system.
An increasing number of vehicles are being sold with embedded or installed global position system (GPS) navigation systems, which typically include a GPS receiver configured to receive position information (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.), a database containing map and/or navigation data, such as, for example, both roadway data and point-of-interest (POI) data, and a dedicated display screen. It should be appreciated that the roadway data and/or POI data can include not only information about a given point of interest (e.g., name, location, address, phone number, etc.) but also street and or roadway data that is related to a location along a specific roadway (e.g., speed limit information, number of lanes, warning information, etc.). The database associated with a vehicle navigation system is typically implemented as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disk and disk player. Besides the cost of these GPS navigation systems, one drawback is the static nature of the map and/or navigation data, or more specifically, the static nature of the storage medium for the roadway and POI data. Roadway and POI data can be dynamic, for example, as roads are created, widened or closed, speed limits adjusted, and restaurants, fuel stations, hotels, and other points of interest are opened, closed, and/or renamed. Because the map and/or navigation data is typically stored on an optical disk, the map and/or navigation data starts becoming out of date as soon as the disk is made. The older the disk, the more out of data the map and/or navigation data becomes. Due to the cost and inconvenience of getting new map data disks, users typically do not regularly get new map and/or navigation data disks, if they get them at all.
There is a need for an in-vehicle control system capable of requesting information from remote sources. Further, there is a need for an in-vehicle control system capable of displaying real-time, live, or frequently updating images from a remote source. Further, there is a need for processing relating to information for display on audio systems and/or playback on video systems to be conducted off-board or at a source remote from the vehicle.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that satisfies one or more of these needs or provides other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.